The invention of life in pregnancy: living with HIV/aids and the production of care

Abstract

The article presents the cartography of a young woman living with HIV/AIDS during her three pregnancies. It is a cartographic qualitative research applying the user guide technique to analyze care production processes in the interweaving of formal and informal health care networks. The current HIV/aids epidemic focuses on biomedical practices, illustrated by the slogan “test and treat,” while practices based on human rights lose strength. The desire to practice care and the strict adherence to formal care networks protocol do not protect public healthcare users from possible cases of bodily regulation (medicalization) and, in the end, from violence. The production of care for pregnant women living with HIV/aids in the contemporary HIV/AIDS epidemic is articulated with the understanding of the phenomenon of machismo, stigma, prejudice, discrimination and socioeconomic issues.